1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a feed device that feeds sheets to an image forming apparatus that then forms an image on the sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, generally, sheets are pulled out one by one from a paper tray and those sheets are then sequentially fed into an image forming unit or a printing unit for printing an image on the sheets.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-193262 teaches to provide blowing ports for dry wind on a side fence of the paper tray. When a sheet is fed from the paper tray, dry wind is blown from the blowing ports onto the side edges of the sheet so that the sheet is easily separated from the other sheets in the paper tray. With this configuration, it is prevented that plural sheets are fed at a time or no sheets is fed at all.
Meanwhile, various types of sheets are used in image forming apparatuses. For example, in addition to sheets of standard sizes, label sheets are used. After printing the label sheets, the labels are used as stickers for sticking to products etc.
In a typical label sheet, a mount paper and a label paper are adhered to each other an adhesive. The adhesive sometimes leaks from the side edges of the label sheet. If such a label sheet is stacked in the paper tray, the adhesive adheres to a side fence or a surface of a pressing member arranged on a sheet-passing surface of the side fence. This can cause feeding failure due to the conveying load of the adhesive or dirt on side edges of the sheet due to re-adhesion of the adhesive.
Therefore, each time a label sheet is set in the paper tray, to prevent subsequent occurrence of feeding failure, the user must wipe off the side fence and the pressing member to remove any adhesive adhering to them.
The technique of blowing dry wind disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-193262 is useless if sheets are adhered to each other with an adhesive that has leaked from a label sheet.